A Little Less Sixteen Candles

Summary:

I don't blame you for being youBut you can't blame me for hating itSo say, what are you waiting for?Kiss her, kiss herI set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late

Work Text:

Bakugou had thoroughly fucked up.

He had fucked up similarly in the past, it turns out he was better at being mean to his boyfriend than he originally thought he would be. It's not like he really meant what he said, but over time he realized that didn't matter. What mattered is that he said it, and it hurt Kirishima's feelings. He hated that he hurt Kiri.

Bakugou really didn't mean it when he told Kiri that he didn't care about their one year anniversary when he'd shown up to pick Kiri up a solid thirty minutes late for the date Kiri had meticulously planned on Friday. But he said it, and it hurt Kiri. That probably wasn't the worst part, though. The statement had spurred an argument on Kirishima's front porch- meaning his moms probably heard- and, stubborn as ever, Bakugou stood his ground.

But then Kiri dumped him. Kiri had never broken up with him before. Normally when they got into fights Kirishima would slowly wear Bakugou down to get his true feelings out. Normally Kirishima had thick enough skin to not be bothered much by Bakugou's rudeness. Normally Bakugou didn't get mad enough to throw the word "hate" out there.

Yeah, Kiri probably didn't break up with him for being late. He probably broke up with him for saying he hated how clingy Kirishima could be.

He really didn't mean it.

That's why Bakugou found himself at Kirishima's porch at 12 am on Sunday when he couldn't fall asleep because he felt so bad, and because the last words Kirishima said to him were ringing in his head.

Kiri had tears in his eyes when he'd said, "Why don't you just drop dead?"

He sighed, setting up the sleeping bag he'd brought. He wasn't about to wake up Kiri and his moms in the middle of the night, but if he was lucky he'd catch Kiri before his morning run and be able to apologize properly. The multitude of texts he'd sent didn't feel like they counted as real apologies. As Kiri would say, he needed to man up and face his fears. His main fear being actually turned down forever by the only person he'd ever had romantic feelings towards. He fell asleep that night anxious and restless.

And he woke up the next morning by being nudged on his side. He groggily opened his eyes, recognizing Kiri's running shoes, the toes of one being used to tap incessantly on Bakugou's side.

"Get up," Kirishima said, not sounding the slightest bit amused. Bakugou sat up, seeing Kiri sit down on the porch swing he'd settled close to the night before. "What are you doing here? Sleeping on my porch- what if my moms had been the ones to find you, huh?"

"M'sorry," Bakugou said, rubbing his eyes, "but I was willing to risk it. I needed to do this in person."

"And what's 'this?' Make a fool of yourself? I told you, if you hate how clingy I am, I don't want you near me. You know who I am, you know me. You knew what you were getting into when you accepted my first request to go on a date, but I had to wait a year to know that you apparently hate a large facet of who I am? Good fucking job, Bakugou."

That stung. Kiri hadn't called him his last name since their third date.

"Ei, please, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it. I was embarrassed that I was late and I let myself get spun up about it."

"Yeah, that's something you really need to work on. You can't just let yourself get pissy at me about something that's your fault." Kirishima paused, sighing. "But more importantly, you shouldn't have said you hate how I act about you. I cried myself to sleep, Bakugou."

"Fuck, I- I'm so sorry. I know that it's totally my fault, and you don't have to take me back- hell I don't even expect you to. I'm such a shitty boyfriend, I just- I just," Bakugou hiccuped. He hadn't even noticed he'd started crying. "I'm a fucking lost cause, Kiri, you know that. I have no chance of changing, and you- you're right about giving up on me, I mean how many times have I fucked up, you know? Too many fucking times to count," Bakugou was hunched over, on his knees. He couldn't look at Kiri as he poured his heart out, sobbing into the elbows of his sweatshirt. He let out a startled whimper as he was pulled up into Kirishima's lap. "I- what?"

Kiri had sat Bakugou in his lap, and had wrapped his arms around him, holding him tight. Bakugou didn't understand, all he could do was keep crying.

"Katsuki, you're not a lost cause. You're my best friend, and I love you. I- I did get your texts, if you're wondering. I just wasn't at a place where I could respond. This weekend has been really hard on me, yes because of what you said, but mainly because I missed you so much. I was mad at you- don't get me wrong I still kind of am- but I was also mad at myself for pushing you away when I had such a strong feeling that you didn't mean it. I just – I couldn't deal with the fact you'd actually said that to me. I worry about being too clingy, and I know I don't really talk about that so it's not like you knew and were exploiting a weakness or something but it really struck me."

Bakugou sniffled, wiping his tears and pushing off of Kiri's chest so he could talk. "If it means anything," he started, eyes locking with Kirishima before looking down, "I actually love that you check on me all the time, and the PDA you do, even if I seem annoyed. I just, I'm really bad at expressing my feelings. But you probably already know that."

"Yeah I do. You're pretty easy for me to read, Katsu. I'm done being broken up with you. You'll take me back, won't you?" Kirishima asked, a little smile on his face. "I'm sorry I made you cry."

"I only cried ‘cause you said you'd cried because of me. It's my fault, don't put it on yourself." Bakugou let his head rest against Kiri's chest. "But, yeah, of course I'll take you back. That's what I wanted this to result in, though I didn't really think it would work."

"You wanna come in for breakfast?"

"What about your run? Oh god, and your moms are probably still mad at me."

"Actually, I know as a fact that they heard just about all of that. Most of the windows are open in there, and you got kinda loud while you were talking down on yourself."